notes from my kitchen after dark

Chicken Picatta

Chicken poached in lemon butter sauce loaded with capers. How inviting this dish was on my family’s table. Someone had thirds, and could not stop enjoying the pasta smothered in the silky tangy sauce. I can see why the French love butter so much!

This dish was a spin-off of the one I enjoyed while on a road trip with the family. The dish prepared for me included sliced mushrooms, most of which were donated to hubby’s plate as I’m not a huge fan of mushrooms (even though my mother will tell you stories of me wolfing down every last button out of the fridge). Needless to say they didn’t make it in my shopping cart. Although, I’m sure hubby would have taken good care of any mushrooms lucky enough to join the butter jacuzzi. This dish does need a supportive player though, it was really good with the capers but it could have been fantastic with… greens? Green beans? Hmmm….

Chicken Picatta à la Midnitechef

one boneless, skinless chicken breast per person

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter (I know, shocker eh?)

zest of one lemon

juice of 2 lemons (or one large lemon, mine were pretty small)

1.5 Tbsp capers with juice from the jar

1 cup chicken stock (homemade preferably, see one of my versions in this post)

sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper

In a large pan over medium-low heat, start warming the stock, butter, zest and lemon juice.

Pound the chicken breasts with a meat mallet, small pan, empty wine bottle, or rolling-pin. Keep the chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment. Get the breast to an even thickness so that they will cook evenly.

Poach the chicken in the lemon butter, about 7 or 8 minutes per side, covered. Season each side with salt and pepper. Add the capers after the flip to the second side. I ended up adding more capers at the end too. The sauce should be bubbling while the chicken cooks, so I guess that’s actually a simmer. The sauce will reduce.

I guess an olive oil spread (I know I can find this in the US, not sure about Canada), or good olive oil (less than 1/2 cup though!), plus a bit of white wine for flavour. This was my first attempt and I instinctively went for loads of butter.

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